Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson said he would not vote for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers “at gunpoint,” then called his progressive Democratic opponent “literally Trumpian.”
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Carlson made the remarks in an interview with Breaking Points co-host Saagar Enjeti posted Sept. 2 on The Tucker Carlson Show.
Rogers, a former congressman, is the Republican nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat. He faces Abdul El-Sayed, a former Detroit health official who narrowly won the state’s Democratic primary in August, according to Bridge Michigan.
During the Wednesday interview, Enjeti brought up El-Sayed’s campaign and questioned why Michigan Republicans had nominated Rogers a second time after his 2024 defeat.
“Why are they running him again? Anybody wanna tell me that?” Enjeti wondered.
“I wouldn’t vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint,” Carlson replied.
“How would you run someone like that? I don’t even — it doesn’t even make sense,” Carlson added.
Rogers is running in one of a handful of competitive Senate contests that could determine which party controls the chamber for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term, Al Jazeera reported. Republicans have not won a Michigan Senate seat since 1994, and Rogers needs the conservative voters who make up much of Carlson’s audience.
El-Sayed, a physician who led the health departments in Detroit and Wayne County, beat Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) by about one percentage point in the primary, according to Bridge Michigan. El-Sayed has campaigned on universal health care and a promise to reject corporate donations. He has also called Israel a rogue state and accused it of genocide and apartheid.
Carlson pondered El-Sayed’s connection to the Democratic Socialists of America, even though the candidate is not a member.
“He’s a full-blown leftist,” said Enjeti, who has interviewed the candidate many times over the years. “I watch his campaign now. It’s America First. … He stands in front of a giant American flag. It’s almost Trumpian.”
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“It’s literally Trumpian,” Carlson said. He then asked whether El-Sayed would win in November.
“I would probably bet that he’ll win,” Enjeti replied.
“I would think so,” Carlson said.
Trump endorsed Rogers on Truth Social, calling him an “America First Patriot” and writing that the candidate “has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” Fox News reported. It is the same label Enjeti used to describe El-Sayed’s campaign.
Rogers lost the 2024 Senate race to Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) by three-tenths of a percentage point, 48.6% to 48.3%, even as Trump carried Michigan, the Michigan Independent reported.
“He’s basically a tool of Israel and the intel agencies,” Carlson said of Rogers.
Rogers served seven terms in the House from 2001 to 2015. He chaired the House Intelligence Committee before leaving Congress.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent more than $30 million trying to defeat El-Sayed in the primary, backing Stevens instead, Axios recently noted. Rogers’ team has since signaled to the group that it should not spend directly on his behalf in the general election, a request that angered AIPAC officials.
“He was the AIPAC candidate, to be clear. And he’s told AIPAC not to advertise in public forum,” Carlson said.
A Susquehanna Polling and Research survey of 800 likely Michigan voters taken Aug. 11-17 put El-Sayed ahead of Rogers 46% to 39%, The Hill reported. The election is Nov. 3.
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